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Article published December 5, 2012

Cigarette causes small fire at Pittsburgh airport

PITTSBURGH — A smoldering fire that shut down a Pittsburgh International Airport concourse for several hours and prompted a bomb scare was caused by someone smoking in a men’s room, an airport spokeswoman said today.Spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny said the butt caught some paper towels and other debris on fire that had been stashed behind a plumbing access panel in a men’s room. Investigators found other butts and believe someone has been habitually smoking in the restroom and using the access panel to get rid of the evidence, Jenny said.A bomb squad was called out and one concourse shut down for more than three hours this morning because investigators also found a satchel behind the panel and feared it might be a bomb or other incendiary device. But it just contained a rolled up sleeping mat and authorities couldn’t immediately determine how or why it got there, Jenny said.The smoke was reported about 7:30 a.m. today and investigators traced it to the plumbing access panel in a men’s bathroom within an hour.By 11 a.m., the bomb squad determined the satchel posed no threat and the concourse was reopened.